A collection of forty-six mystery stories written during the twentieth century, arranged chronologically from O'Henry's 1903 "A Retrieved Reformation," to Dennis Lehane's 1999 "Running Out of Dog.".

Retrieved reformation / O. Henry -- Paul's case / Willa Cather -- Problem of cell 13 / Jacques Futrelle -- Blind man's buff / Frederick Irving Anderson -- Naboth's vineyard / Melville Davisson Post -- Jury of her peers / Susan Glaspell -- Gutting of Couffignal / Dashiell Hammett -- Haircut / Ring Lardner -- Blue murder / Wilbur Daniel Steele -- Perfect crime / Ben Ray Redman -- Baby in the icebox / James M. Cain -- Murder / John Steinbeck -- Sense of humor / Damon Runyan -- Ransom / Pearl S. Buck -- Red wind / Raymond Chandler -- Catbird seat / James Thurber -- Rear window / Cornell Woolrich -- Error in chemistry / William Faulkner -- Nine mile walk / Harry Kemelman -- Adventure of the president's half disme / Ellery Queen -- Homesick Buick / John D. MacDonald -- Gone girl / Ross Macdonald -- Moment of decision / Stanley Ellin -- First offense / Evan Hunter -- Couple next door / Margaret Millar -- Day of the execution / Henry Slesar -- Terrapin / Patricia Highsmith -- Possibility of evil / Shirley Jackson -- Comforts of home / Flannery O'Connor -- Good man, bad man / Jerome Weidman -- Goodbye, Pops / Joe Gores -- Whimper of whipped dogs / Harlan Ellison -- Wager / Robert L. Fish -- Do with me what you will / Joyce Carol Oates -- Quitters, Inc. / Stephen King -- Absence of Emily / Jack Ritchie -- By the dawn's early light / Lawrence Block -- Iris / Stephen Greenleaf -- Three-Dot Po / Sara Paretsky -- Parker shotgun / Sue Grafton -- Too many crooks / Donald E. Westlake -- Hot springs / James Crumley -- Dark snow / Brendan DuBois -- Red clay / Michael Malone -- Poachers / Tom Franklin -- Running out of dog / Dennis Lehane.